Berlin Brandenburg to open October 2013

The long-awaited opening of Berlin’s new airport has been delayed by seven more months, with the date now set at October 27 next year – far later than planned. The originally scheduled opening of Berlin Brandenburg Airport was 3 June 2012. But this date was scrapped just weeks beforehand because of fire safety system issues. The opening date was reset to 17 March 2013, but the tight schedule for renewed planning and testing meant that this too became unrealistic. The budget for the project has also risen considerably, now estimated at €4.2 billion, up from the previous estimate of €3 billion.At a press conference on Friday, Horst Amann, the airport’s technical director, confessed: “It was terrible to see how much was lacking.”Reuters[photo courtesy Berlin Brandenburg Airport]